RiverLife Real Estate June 2009 Newsletter

							                    RiverLife Real Estate June 2009 Newsletter
                          Brought to you by Amie Hautz 403-852-0262 www.RiverLifeRealEstate.com
                                          Thank you for your continued support & referrals!
                IN THE NEWS                                        STATISTICS                                         FEATURES

    Although the Calgary real estate market has      Once again, the median price for both condos
                                                                                                             Just Listed and Sold!
been picking up recently, the month of July        and single-family homes increased over the
typically sees a slowdown both in number of        previous month. May saw an increase from
sales and in prices. Many industry members,        $380,000 to $390,000 for single-family homes
however, feel that we may not feel the same        and from $251,000 to $255,000 for condos.
slowdown for the summer months this year.            This is also the fifth month in a row that the
    One interesting factor that may affect the     number of sales per month has increased for
demand levels for the next 90 days is the rising   both condos and single-family (SF). In both
interest rates. Last week we saw three major       cases, the number of sales per month has more
Canadian banks increase the rates on several of    than tripled compared to December 2008 (449
their mortgage products.                           to 1584 for SF and 205 to 653 for condos).
    The rate increases were between three- and       When looking at median prices, SF homes                 178 Havenhurst Cres SW
four-tenths of a point which, for example,         were down 9% year over year in January                           $444,000
would mean a $90/month difference on a             compared with just 7% in May. Condos have          Modern renovation in an older bungalow – sold
$350,000 mortgage over 35 years.                   made a bigger recovery – the median price year              in one week on the market!
    Since most mortgage pre-approvals are          over year was down 16% in January whereas
good for 90 days, this puts pressure on            last month was down only 10% year over year.
homebuyers that have been pre-approved at the        So although prices are still down
lower rate to put an offer on something before     significantly from the peak in mid-2007, the
                                                                                                                     Just Sold
their pre-approval expires.                        real estate market, like the stock markets, is
    This also may be a sign of things to come      starting to claw its way back up to the price
with other banks considering following suit        ranges and sales volume to which Calgarians
with rate increases. The uncertainty of when       had become accustomed in 2006/07.
and how much rates will rise affects the             The lower end of the market continues to
mentality of buyers and could keep demand          lead the way in the number of real estate
propped up through these summer months.            transactions in the city. The $350,000-$399,999
    Meanwhile,       CMHC’s       forecast   for   category captured 21% of the market last
residential rental vacancy in Calgary has          month, the largest category, with the $300,000-
increased. This is another result of lower home    $349,999 category a close second, at 20% of                219 Maunsell Close NE
prices and interest rates that are helping turn    the market. We will likely continue to see these                 $362,500
many renters into home buyers. We saw a low        two categories lead the pack for the remainder
                                                                                                      Incredible 500 square foot deck with mountain
of 0.5% vacancy in 2006; CMHC is predicting        of 2009.
                                                                                                         & city views with this renovated 2-storey
4% in 2009.
RiverLife Real Estate June 2009 Newsletter
  Brought to you by Amie Hautz 403-852-0262 www.RiverLifeRealEstate.com
                  Thank you for your continued support & referrals!
                  RiverLife Real Estate June 2009 Newsletter
                      Brought to you by Amie Hautz 403-852-0262 www.RiverLifeRealEstate.com
                                      Thank you for your continued support & referrals!

                                                          Absorption Rate

  10.0
   9.0
   8.0
   7.0
   6.0
   5.0
   4.0
   3.0
   2.0
           May-08 Jun-08     Jul-08    Aug-08 Sep-08 Oct-08 Nov-08 Dec-08 Jan-09 Feb-09 Mar-09 Apr-09 May-09

                                                           Condos        Single Family
Absorption Rate is the number of months it would take to sell out all current inventory at the current rate of sales. A balanced market would
 be around three or four months. This gives a clear picture of how busy our marketplace is (the lower the number, the hotter the market).


                                                        Average Days on Market

  70
  60
  50
  40
  30
  20
  10
   0
         May-08    Jun-08   Jul-08    Aug-08   Sep-08    Oct-08     Nov-08    Dec-08     Jan-09   Feb-09   Mar-09     Apr-09   May-09

                                                Avg SF DOM    Avg Condo DOM